Forgive me, but before I start this review, I just have to say that today’s featured artist, Anita R. Collins, has afabulous website. Not only does she post skillfully made photos of her work (as as I have often state, I admire good photographers because I’m not one), but she also includes commentary on many of her art dolls, which is always my favorite part of any website. Besides that, she has a great “bio” section which is really more like an artist statement, and a dark, moody theme to the whole site that complements her work perfectly.

But on to her work. Collins isn’t just another eBay fairy sculptor. Her work is certainly above average in its realism, beauty and detail, but beyond that, shes creates a sense of mood in her work that is really something special. Her pieces have a distinctly adult edge, displaying their anatomical correctness and sometimes showing evidence of violence, tattoos or scarification, but there is still a haunting beauty that shows through in each piece.

One thing I love about her work is her unflinching use of media. Many artists are wedded to either sewn costumes or sculpted ones (and I have long maintained that the popularity of fairies as subjects is partly because sculptors who don’t like to sew can wind a little cheesecloth around them and call it costume), but Collins’ figures wear either medium equally well, depending on what the artist is trying to accomplish. Their costumes, hair and accessories often display a careful attention to details and their effect on the work as a whole.

Everything about Collins’ work is fresh and reexamined. Her mermaids don’t have scaly tails. She makes crowns out of polymer clay and microbeads. Her angels have wings instead of arms. She makes animal-human hybrids that go beyond the usual centaurs and fauns to include seals, octopi, cats and — I swear to you — coral. Really. See the picture at the top of this entry?

Visit Collins’ websitefor a great viewing experience (and I haven’t even mentioned her cool dragon-head beads or her adorable netsuke sculptures) or her DeviantArt account for a few more pictures and commentary.

thessalyrosesaid,

Lol, that’s a great description. I’ve been thinking about Halloween lately, since it’s time to start sewing for the Spooktacular show in October, so there might be some more of these darker dollmakers for a while.

[…] eleven types of doll wings, including flower-petal angel wings like the ones seen in my report on Sleetwealth Studios. So, for those of you who are following my search for fairy wing tutorials, go and sign up for the […]

[…] eleven types of doll wings, including flower-petal angel wings like the ones seen in my report on Sleetwealth Studios. So, for those of you who are following my search for fairy wing tutorials, go and sign up for the […]

[…] eleven types of doll wings, including flower-petal angel wings like the ones seen in my report on Sleetwealth Studios. So, for those of you who are following my search for fairy wing tutorials, go and sign up for the […]

Johanna J.said,

While I love this gal’s work, when I click on the highlighted ‘links’ within your article, they are taking me immediately to a teen porn site with extremely graphic pictures. Don’t think you bargained on this.

Anna Sohsaid,

Hi! I was your fan a long, long time ago and had a few of your exquisite dolls that I had won on eBay. Nonetheless, I have been keeping track of your creations. I never feel bored admiring my ‘babies’ and would like to know whether you have a mailing list. I am not computer-saavy and am so confused about Myspace, Facebook etc. I know how about Etsy but so far, the only creations you put up are busts, trinkets etc., not the dolls that I desire.